world-system
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Meaning
A complex socioeconomic system, especially a global one, viewed as an interconnected whole.
(In world-systems theory) the multicivilizational, interregional network of economic and political relationships that constitutes the modern world.
Structure
Usage
The development of the capitalist world-system began in the long sixteenth century.
His research analyzes how peripheral nations are exploited within the global world-system.
Wallerstein's theory of the world-system challenges traditional nation-state centered histories.
Etymology
The term 'world-system' is a modern English compound, constructed in the 20th century by sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein to name his theoretical framework. The first element, 'world', derives from the Old English 'woruld', which originally referred to 'the age of man' and later expanded to mean the earth and its inhabitants. The second element, 'system', originates from the Greek 'sustēma', meaning 'organized whole, body', which passed into Latin as 'systema' and then into modern European languages. The compound's logic is transparently literal: it designates the entire world conceptualized as a single, integrated, and structured entity with its own internal dynamics and hierarchies, moving from the ancient, broad concepts of 'world' and 'system' to a specific, modern socio-historical analytical concept.
Analysis
world: Old English origin, meaning 'human existence, the earth, the universe'. In this compound, it denotes the global or universal scope. system: From Greek via Latin and French, meaning 'organized whole, combination of parts'. In this compound, it denotes the structured, interconnected nature.